Victorian Parlor Games That Are Suitable for a Slumber Party
There is no particular age limit for these games but from my own experience they will work well for girls ages eight and older.
They can all be played with a minimum of four quests but six to eight participants would preferable.
The game of Funny conversations This is a classic Victorian parlor game and was sold as a small boxed set of cards towards the end of the 19th Century.
Parker Brothers made a version of this game in 1893, called "Komical Konversations".
The game is simple in that a number of random questions are written on cards and as each one is drawn (and read out) a random response is selected from the pile of answer cards.
The questions can be anything but are usually absurd or somewhat amusing, such as "Do you make as much noise snoring as you do sipping your tea?" or "Do you think the term 'fish' would apply to anyone here?" etc.
The random answers are generic and can apply equally to all of the questions, such as "yes', "no", "maybe", or "I will tell you that when we know each other better" etc.
When I gave my daughter and her party guests a set of these vintage cards (which can be purchased on eBay) they began to play the game as per the instructions.
When I returned to the table, having been arranging their cucumber sandwiches in the kitchen, I observed the guests were now making up their own questions.
Questions such as "Is there a boy in your class that you like?" or "Do you get an allowance?" now replaced the standard questions from the vintage game.
Whether you purchase a vintage game of Funny conversations or have your party guests make up their own questions and answers this game should prove popular for your young female guests at their next gathering.
The game of Slander This Victorian parlor game is played as follows: - One of the party guests goes out of the room and the others make 'remarks' about the absent guest.
These remarks are written down on pieces of paper and then placed on a table.
The guest then returns and one of the party picks up a remark at random and reads it out aloud.
The guest, that the remarks are targeted at, then has to try and guess which one of the party made the remark.
The guest gets three chances, using three different written remarks, to try to correctly associate a remark with a person.
If the guess is correct then the person that made the remark now goes out of the room and the game continues.
If the guest is unable to guess who made a particular remark, after three attempts, then the same guest goes out of the room again and retries with new remarks.
If the same guest fails to correctly guess, who made the remarks, a second time then another guest can take her place so as to stop the same guest going out of the room if she is repeatedly unable to guess correctly.
The type of 'slanderous' remarks being made is up to the party and the examples given in the vintage books are "This person is a gossip".
"This person is lazy" and other general negative remarks.
It is quite possible, however, that your guests may make more specific and precise remarks and if that is the case then remember that one of the overriding principles of Victorian social behavior is not to embarrass anyone or make them feel uncomfortable in any situation.
All that said, I believe that this vintage parlor game of slander was designed and played with a little bit of mischief in mind and if your party girl's get into the right spirit of this game it will surely amuse them as it has amused many girls for the past 100 years or so.
The game of "What is your problem?" (A variation on classical charades) Charades is a game where one person has to 'act out' in mime a person, activity, animal or object.
For example the person may pretend that they are a cat or a washing machine (or anything else) and the rest of the party has to guess this by observing the mime.
The party can be split into two teams and each party gives one of the other team member's the subject to act out and that person acts out the subject to their own team, who need to guess the subject from the mime.
There are a number of variations of this classic game but the one that I have found to be the most amusing to my party guests is "What is your problem?".
In this variation of the charades game teams take it in turns to act out a scene, as a group, while the other party guests have to guess "What is your problem?" If there is a large number in the party then more than two teams can be formed, the preferred number in each team is three but teams of two or four also works quite well.
The team doing the acting out leaves the room for a discussion on the subject of their short 'skit' (play acting).
The acting team needs to decide which team member has the 'problem' and what the problem is.
Examples of problems are "This person interrupts all the time", or "This person turns around three times when she hears her name" etc.
Having decided who has what problem the team then devises a short skit that conveys this problem to the other guests.
In the skit the acting team can talk but they cannot directly state the problem.
For example, for the "This person interrupts all the time" problem the girls could simply act out a scene where they are at a restaurant having a conversation and the girl with the problem keeps interrupting everyone at the table.
The skit should be timed to last around two minutes to keep things moving.
If the guessing party guests have no idea what is going on, they can be given the clue of which girl in the acting group has the problem.
When I have hosted this game in the past, as part of a traditional Victorian tea party, I have prepared a number of problems and situations for the girl's to act out to save time, but if the girl's have their own ideas then these should be encouraged.
Also, if this game is hosted, then you (as the hostess) should try to allow each girl to 'star' in the acting so that the more forceful guests don't 'hog the limelight'.
They can all be played with a minimum of four quests but six to eight participants would preferable.
The game of Funny conversations This is a classic Victorian parlor game and was sold as a small boxed set of cards towards the end of the 19th Century.
Parker Brothers made a version of this game in 1893, called "Komical Konversations".
The game is simple in that a number of random questions are written on cards and as each one is drawn (and read out) a random response is selected from the pile of answer cards.
The questions can be anything but are usually absurd or somewhat amusing, such as "Do you make as much noise snoring as you do sipping your tea?" or "Do you think the term 'fish' would apply to anyone here?" etc.
The random answers are generic and can apply equally to all of the questions, such as "yes', "no", "maybe", or "I will tell you that when we know each other better" etc.
When I gave my daughter and her party guests a set of these vintage cards (which can be purchased on eBay) they began to play the game as per the instructions.
When I returned to the table, having been arranging their cucumber sandwiches in the kitchen, I observed the guests were now making up their own questions.
Questions such as "Is there a boy in your class that you like?" or "Do you get an allowance?" now replaced the standard questions from the vintage game.
Whether you purchase a vintage game of Funny conversations or have your party guests make up their own questions and answers this game should prove popular for your young female guests at their next gathering.
The game of Slander This Victorian parlor game is played as follows: - One of the party guests goes out of the room and the others make 'remarks' about the absent guest.
These remarks are written down on pieces of paper and then placed on a table.
The guest then returns and one of the party picks up a remark at random and reads it out aloud.
The guest, that the remarks are targeted at, then has to try and guess which one of the party made the remark.
The guest gets three chances, using three different written remarks, to try to correctly associate a remark with a person.
If the guess is correct then the person that made the remark now goes out of the room and the game continues.
If the guest is unable to guess who made a particular remark, after three attempts, then the same guest goes out of the room again and retries with new remarks.
If the same guest fails to correctly guess, who made the remarks, a second time then another guest can take her place so as to stop the same guest going out of the room if she is repeatedly unable to guess correctly.
The type of 'slanderous' remarks being made is up to the party and the examples given in the vintage books are "This person is a gossip".
"This person is lazy" and other general negative remarks.
It is quite possible, however, that your guests may make more specific and precise remarks and if that is the case then remember that one of the overriding principles of Victorian social behavior is not to embarrass anyone or make them feel uncomfortable in any situation.
All that said, I believe that this vintage parlor game of slander was designed and played with a little bit of mischief in mind and if your party girl's get into the right spirit of this game it will surely amuse them as it has amused many girls for the past 100 years or so.
The game of "What is your problem?" (A variation on classical charades) Charades is a game where one person has to 'act out' in mime a person, activity, animal or object.
For example the person may pretend that they are a cat or a washing machine (or anything else) and the rest of the party has to guess this by observing the mime.
The party can be split into two teams and each party gives one of the other team member's the subject to act out and that person acts out the subject to their own team, who need to guess the subject from the mime.
There are a number of variations of this classic game but the one that I have found to be the most amusing to my party guests is "What is your problem?".
In this variation of the charades game teams take it in turns to act out a scene, as a group, while the other party guests have to guess "What is your problem?" If there is a large number in the party then more than two teams can be formed, the preferred number in each team is three but teams of two or four also works quite well.
The team doing the acting out leaves the room for a discussion on the subject of their short 'skit' (play acting).
The acting team needs to decide which team member has the 'problem' and what the problem is.
Examples of problems are "This person interrupts all the time", or "This person turns around three times when she hears her name" etc.
Having decided who has what problem the team then devises a short skit that conveys this problem to the other guests.
In the skit the acting team can talk but they cannot directly state the problem.
For example, for the "This person interrupts all the time" problem the girls could simply act out a scene where they are at a restaurant having a conversation and the girl with the problem keeps interrupting everyone at the table.
The skit should be timed to last around two minutes to keep things moving.
If the guessing party guests have no idea what is going on, they can be given the clue of which girl in the acting group has the problem.
When I have hosted this game in the past, as part of a traditional Victorian tea party, I have prepared a number of problems and situations for the girl's to act out to save time, but if the girl's have their own ideas then these should be encouraged.
Also, if this game is hosted, then you (as the hostess) should try to allow each girl to 'star' in the acting so that the more forceful guests don't 'hog the limelight'.
